Social learning theorists point out that although the environment influences our behaviour, through our behaviour we can also influence the environment, and argue that although environmentalism may explain the behaviour of pigeons and laboratory rats, it cannot adequately explain the complexity of human behaviour and the factors that differentiate the human species from other less complex species. They emphasize that a number of factors combine in shaping the social behaviour and the mental state of the individual, and that such factors mediate the influence of learning experiences. One of the most influential social learning theorists was Albert Bandura, who carried out work on modelling in the learning process. This involves learning behaviour through watching others, that is, learning by imitation (Bandura and Walters 1963; Bandura 1969). Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Behavioural psychotherapy, Cognitive determinants, cognitive-behavioural model, Criticisms of the behavioural model, environmentalism, humanistic models, learning theorists, Social learning theorists
Just as the psychoanalytic perspective developed partly through
dissatisfaction with the narrowness of a biological model of
psychopathology, the behavioural model developed partly because
psychologists found the psychoanalytic model unscientific and ineffective.
The behaviour model is constructed on the work of learning
theorists. Behaviourists thought that the same behaviours that Freud
studied could be explainable in a simpler fashion, in ways that would
make them experimentally testable within a scientific framework.
Although both the psychoanalytical and the behavioural models
are deterministic they locate the source of determinism in a different
place. Whereas Freud located the source of human conduct in intrapsychic
events, learning theorists view behaviour as a product of
stimulus-response (S-R) relationships. Hence, in this model there is no
need to explore the past or to understand the reasons for present
behaviour in order to bring about change. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: aetiology of psychopathology, behaviour therapy for phobias, Classical conditioning, Edward Thorndike, emotional reactions, learning theorists, Negative reinforcement, operant conditioning, Pavlov, suppressing behaviour, temper tantrum